Catherine Avalone/The Middletown Press Portland senior third baseman Matt Ryan rounds third and scores on a triple hit by pitcher Hayden Manning against North Branford in the third inning Friday afternoon. The North Branford Thunderbirds defeated the Portland Highlanders 14-4 in Portland. less

Catherine Avalone/The Middletown Press Portland senior third baseman Matt Ryan rounds third and scores on a triple hit by pitcher Hayden Manning against North Branford in the third inning Friday afternoon. The ... more

Photo: TheMiddletownPress

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Catherine Avalone/The Middletown Press North Branford senior third baseman Michael Schettino is surprised with the umpire's call unlike the confidence shown by Portland junior second baseman Mike Bordonaro Friday afternoon. The North Branford Thunderbirds defeated the Portland Highlanders 14-4. less

Catherine Avalone/The Middletown Press North Branford senior third baseman Michael Schettino is surprised with the umpire's call unlike the confidence shown by Portland junior second baseman Mike Bordonaro ... more

Photo: TheMiddletownPress

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Catherine Avalone/The Middletown Press Portland sophomore catcher Cole Ogorzalek looks out to the team after North Branford scores in the second inning Friday afternoon. The visiting Thunderbirds defeated the Portland Highlanders 14-4. less

Catherine Avalone/The Middletown Press Portland sophomore catcher Cole Ogorzalek looks out to the team after North Branford scores in the second inning Friday afternoon. The visiting Thunderbirds defeated the ... more

Photo: TheMiddletownPress

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BASEBALL: North Branford finds hot bats in 14-4 win against Portland

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PORTLAND -- A three-run home run with none out in the top of the first will set the tone in almost any game.

Kyle Hart of North Branford did just that as North Branford defeated Portland 14-4 on the road on Friday.

"They came out hitting the ball and they hit the ball through the whole game. Not much you can do about that," said Portland coach Rick Borg.

After an error by Matt Ryan at third, Manning retired the next three batters, including a strikeout of Chris Caron.

North Branford prides itself on it's pitching and defense, but the bats woke up today.

"I was just happy with the way we came out today, finally busted out," said North Branford coach Bill Mitchell.

Walks hurt Portland in the second inning when North Branford broke the game wide open. Kyle Johnson walked with one out and scored when Matt Edwards singled to left. After a Hart walk, Brandon Basil singled to left, driving in two more. The Thunderbirds batted around in the second, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five runs.

"If they hit like that, then they're the best team in the Shoreline," said Borg.

Portland finally got on the board in the third when Ryan reached on an error by the third baseman Michael Schettino and came all the way around to score on a Manning triple deep to center. The Highlanders starting pitcher wandered a little too far off third and was picked off. Portland would load the bases with a single by Nick Adamsons and back-to-back walks by Nick Stokke and Jason Staub, but failed to score. Both sides squandered multiple scoring opportunities, each leaving 10 runners on base.

The top of the North Branford order did the damage in the first half of the game, the bottom five finished the job.

Nick Perrelli walked to begin the fourth, followed by a Caron double. Will Coleman grounded out to the second baseman Michael Bordonaro, with Perrelli coming in the back door. Caron scored when Bordonaro trapped a low line drive off the bat of Schettino.

"We hit from the top to the bottom tonight, so I'm hoping it continues," said Mitchell.

Another single run came in the fourth for Portland. John Muskatallo walked with one out and scored three batters later on a single to right field by Adamsons.

The fifth inning looked promising for the home team. Staub singled and advanced to second on a passed ball. Bordonaro followed with a single of his own and Cole Ogorzalek flew out to center, allowing Staub to trot home.

A couple errors in the sixth proved costly for Portland. Caron reached on an error by Bordonaro at second and Coleman followed with a single to center, which was mishandled allowing both runners to get into scoring position. Schettino reached on an infield single that scored Caron, then Coleman scored on a passed ball. Funaro collected his third hit of the game with one out, driving in Schettino.

The top of the order led off for Portland in the sixth and did all they could to get back into the game. Ryan and Manning hit consecutive doubles, but the next three went down in order. That would be it as neither team scored in the seventh.

Johnson picked up the win for North Branford, going four innings, striking out five and allowing two runs, one of which was earned. Manning gets the loss leaving after three innings and nine runs. His lone strikeout was of Caron looking at a slow curve for the second out of the first inning.

"We did hit the ball pretty well today, it was kind of disguised by the fact that we were down," said Borg, whose team finished the week winning two out of three, defeating Westbrook on Monday and Old Lyme on Wednesday, both on the road.

North Branford improves to 5-2 in the Shoreline Conference, while Portland falls to 5-2, but still first in the Small Division.